The Malachi 3:10 Money Test!

Yearly Updates

Man, 2015 was a crazy year! God blessed us insanely. WE BOUGHT A FREAKIN HOUSE!!!

Just like last year, here is a breakdown of this year compared to last year!

2014

2015

Difference

Comments

Income $73,500

Income $82,325

$8,825

Huge jump from last year! My amazing wife became a Supervisor at Costco which is where 99% of this came from.

Auto & Transport: Auto Insurance $829

Auto & Transport: Auto Insurance $1,165

$336

The reason for the large jump had to do with switching from month to month to every 6 months. We did this switch late in the year so part of it will roll into next year.

Auto & Transport: Gas & Fuel $3,543

Auto & Transport: Gas & Fuel $2,374

$-1,169

Woot! Lowered gas prices and not driving to Seattle as much as last year helped this out.

Auto & Transport: New Car $200

Auto & Transport: New Car $600

$400

In 2014, we started saving up for used car but then decided to use the money to pay off debt. This year, the $600 actually went towards investing in Elio which I hope pays off in the long run :)

Auto & Transport: Service & Parts $1,138

Auto & Transport: Service & Parts $2,706

$1,568

This year we did a lot of upkeep on our cars that we have been putting off due to lack of funds. That and my wife’s car broke down a few times…

Bills & Utilities: Internet $760

Bills & Utilities: Internet $538

$-222

We went the last two months without any internet. And we almost died. This will probably go back up close to what it was in 2014 since we had to switch internet providers and this one is a little more expensive.

Bills & Utilities: Mobile Phone $759

Bills & Utilities: Mobile Phone $760

$1

Still keeping things low here. My wife is still on Republic Wireless but I have switch to Google Fi. More on this later…

Bills & Utilities: Television $1,055

Bills & Utilities: Television $1,490

$435

I need to watch this more… This increase was due to forgetting to cancel a sports package that I only needed for 2 months and also all the moving of the my dish that our apartment complex made me do. I should write up a blog post about that soon.

Bills & Utilities: Utilities $1,196

Bills & Utilities: Utilities $1,348

$152

Now that we are out of the apartment, I am hoping this starts to go down. Last year for December, we had an electricity bill close to $300 due to the apartment having leaks everywhere and super old baseboard heaters. This last month our bill was just over $70. I like that.

Bills & Utilities: Web Hosting $132

Bills & Utilities: Web Hosting $120

$12

I think the difference was due to a domain name purchase.

Business Services: Mick Business $0

Business Services: Mick Business $488

$488

A new category this year for some of my side hustles. Sadly, I have very little to show for this. I used it to buy some products to resell and am still trying to resell them…

Education: Student Loan $6,705

Education: Student Loan $3,816

$-2,889

We were paying double on this last year. This year, we were only paying a little more than we needed to.

Entertainment: Apps $155

Entertainment: Apps $85

$-70

I switch providers for one of my monthly apps. Saved a butt load!

Entertainment: Dates $1,277

Entertainment: Dates $1,400

$123

I’m ok with spending more to hang out with my wife :)

Entertainment: Furniture $222

Entertainment: Furniture $829

$607

We bought new couches and a chair!

Entertainment: General Expenses $2,036

Entertainment: General Expenses $1,188

$-848

Last year I said “Ouch… we need to do better about this next year.” and we did, woots!

Entertainment: Lindy allowance $769

Entertainment: Lindy allowance $605

$-164

She had less time to work some of her side hustles this year.

Entertainment: Mick Allowance $2,974

Entertainment: Mick Allowance $655

$-2,319

I can’t remember if I got one bonus check this year or none, either way that lowered this a lot. On top of that, I was done selling things for my parents on eBay.

Entertainment: Rodeo $176

Entertainment: Rodeo $80

$-96

Haha! We bought that tickets super early, but didn’t end up going. Instead we rented a car with a buddy of mine and drove to Idaho for a few hours to see an awesome wedding and then drove straight back. Crazy but awesome.

Entertainment: Sporting Events $2,892

Entertainment: Sporting Events $2,908

$16

About the same as last year.

Financial: Debt Killer $917

Financial: Debt Killer $0

$-917

Boom. A full year with no Credit Cards or personal loans.

Financial: General Savings $2,107

Financial: General Savings $3,060

$953

Much better on the savings side. However, most of this went to paying our taxes…

Financial: Lindy’s Ring $572

Financial: Lindy’s Ring $0

$-572

Paid off her wedding band last year. Woots.

Financial: Prosper Loans $5,993

Financial: Prosper Loans $2,112

$-3,881

My goal at the end of last year was to have this paid off by 2016. We paid it off before June of 2015!

Financial: Prosper Investing $0

Financial: Prosper Investing $175

$175

Because we paid off our Prosper Loans, I started to invest in Prosper. Helping people out and making money. I’m down with that!

Financial: Roth IRA $120

Financial: Roth IRA $195

$75

I really want to increase this more in 2016.

Financial: Standard Stocks $10

Financial: Standard Stocks $195

$185

Bumped this up a bit from last year. Hope to increase it a little more next year

Financial: Tithe $7,044

Financial: Tithe $7,056

$12

Same ole Same ole

Food & Dining: Alcohol & Bars $360

Food & Dining: Alcohol & Bars $135

$-225

Bought less scotch this year… But I also found The Knot which is amazing.

Food & Dining: All Food/Coffee $1,290

Food & Dining: All Food/Coffee $1,399

$109

Not too bad compared to last year. I still need to eat out less…

Food & Dining: Stims $266

Food & Dining: Stims $249

$-17

Zipfizz and Lindy’s coffee budget. Not too bad.

Food & Dining: Groceries $5,023

Food & Dining: Groceries $4,596

$-427

Spent less on groceries this year. Woots?

Food & Dining: Mick’s Groceries $401

Food & Dining: Mick’s Groceries $307

$-94

Even I spent less on the groceries I buy when it’s my nights to cook!

Food & Dining: Take People Out $448

Food & Dining: Take People Out $618

$170

Looks like we got out of the house more this year and interacted with people…

Gifts & Donations: Charity $456

Gifts & Donations: Charity $481

$25

This is Lindy’s Compassion child she has been sponsoring for a long time.

Gifts & Donations: Christmas Gifts $618

Gifts & Donations: Christmas Gifts $797

$179

Christmas is expensive yo.

Gifts & Donations: Gift $1,299

Gifts & Donations: Gift $1,844

$545

Fewer weddings means fewer wedding gifts :)

Gifts & Donations: Trusting Jesus $1,761

Gifts & Donations: Trusting Jesus $2,637

$876

Yeah! I like seeing this go up each year. Even though we aren’t increasing this each month like we use to, we also don’t worry if we go over our set amount each month. God’s got our back.

Health & Fitness: Dentist $70

Health & Fitness: Dentist $0

$-70

Stopped budgeting for this since we opened my HSA.

Health & Fitness: Doctor $12

Health & Fitness: Doctor $3,238

$3,226

I highly recommend not tearing your ACL and Meniscus…

Health & Fitness: Eyecare $43

Health & Fitness: Eyecare $0

$-43

Same with the dentist, we stopped saving for this due to having an HSA

Health & Fitness: Gym $0

Health & Fitness: Gym $334

$334

We got a gym membership at the end of this year and then promptly got a house right afterwards. I have only been able to go a handful of times, but that will change once we are done with the holidays.

Home: Mick’s Furniture $65

Home: Mick’s Furniture $105

$40

This is mostly electronic goodies.

Home: Home Insurance $231

Home: Home Insurance $308

$77

This only went up a smidge.

Home: House – General $0

Home: House – General $846

$846

We have a house now! And since we didn’t have a mortgage this month, we used a chunk of that money for things we needed around the house.

Home: House – Lindy -$0

Home: House – Lindy -$405

$405

Budging out things we personally want for the house. My wife got an extra check from work that went towards this budget also.